The most basic vehicle running control apparatuses for controlling longitudinal acceleration of a vehicle include an apparatus for controlling longitudinal acceleration (acceleration side) of the vehicle in response to driver accelerator operation and for controlling longitudinal acceleration (deceleration side) of the vehicle in response to driver brake operation.
In addition to such an apparatus, the following running control apparatuses with additional functions for reduction in driving loads of a driver and prevention of accidents are also generally known.
That is, one of the running control apparatuses and running control algorithms is cruise control (hereinafter referred to as CC), which is an apparatus for controlling longitudinal acceleration to maintain a preset speed even if a driver does not perform accelerator operation. Another one of the running control apparatuses and running control algorithms is adaptive cruise control (hereinafter referred to as ACC). ACC is an apparatus configured to operate as a function equivalent to the aforementioned CC when there are no vehicles running ahead of a self-vehicle or in a control range, and is an apparatus configured, when a vehicle running ahead of the self-vehicle is in the control range, to control longitudinal acceleration so as to maintain a distance from this vehicle at an inter-vehicle distance or inter-vehicle time previously set by a driver.
Furthermore, in addition to these apparatuses, there is a running control apparatus for controlling a vehicle safely and comfortably like a skilled driver by controlling longitudinal acceleration in accordance with a lateral jerk that occurs in a vehicle resulting from driver operation. PTL 1 discloses this type of control apparatus. The running control algorithm incorporated in this running control apparatus is generally called G-Vectoring control.
Note that a technique that combines the plurality of running control apparatuses described above to make one system by combining the plurality of basic running control algorithms is also known.
Such a running control apparatus, which is an apparatus for controlling a vehicle safely, is also an apparatus for assisting driving by a driver to control the vehicle comfortably. In particular, from a viewpoint of an apparatus for comfortable control, it is important to perform control without giving an uncomfortable feeling to a driver.
As a running control apparatus for obtaining a control effect while correcting the control so as not to give an uncomfortable feeling to a driver, PTL 2 discloses an acceleration-and-deceleration control apparatus configured to control an acceleration-and-deceleration speed of a self-vehicle, to correct longitudinal acceleration of the self-vehicle based on a lateral jerk of the self-vehicle, and to permit or prohibit correction of a longitudinal acceleration-and-deceleration speed of the self-vehicle based on predetermined conditions.